Jim, EJ, Will, Glenn, Regina, Ian, Edgar, Bill, Lynne, Jeanette, Steve L, Ray and (sitting at separate table) Bobb, Barbara, and Edgar
Three walking wounded hobbled into Conrads last night. Glenn's right eye has suddenly and mysteriously hit problems, Lynne looked like a wife-beating victim after walking into a glass door at the Egyptian on Saturday, cutting her eye and bruising her knee in the process - just as Regina had done in her own confrontation with the fates. For poor Jeanette it must have felt as if she had taken a wrong turning and ended up in the Huntington's ER. That was where in reality Lynne had spent five hours getting patched and stitched, although since then her eye has turned a dramatic shade of red. So plenty of sympathy all round for those on the injury list from the rest of us, overshadowing the launch of Ian's latest audience-participation song.
Keen observers of the Whitcomb oeuvre claimed to see a CD being assembled complete with a pop-up book demonstrating all the hand movements. Maybe one of the growing collection could be picked up for inclusion in a movie. Ian has already experienced the heady feeling of such a windfall landing out of the clear blue sky, and Ray has just seen his Caterpillar selected for a new movie.
Ray took us onto considering songs of a different style, the old vaudeville songs that look so innocent on paper, but were sheer filth with a nod, a wink and the right emphasis from one of the old stars. Local watch committees and purity groups were always on the lookout for what they saw as public bawdiness - none more than in Pasadena - but the moment their backs were turned the singers started turning the meaning upside down.
As the election approaches and the stock market continues to stumble downwards, Jim and Bill thought about the contrast between the US and Europe. Not that Europe has either avoided the stock market contagion or produced perfect politicians, but it does offer a contrast in size compared with the US. Is 300 million too large a population to govern, on a continent that spans four time zones? Smaller countries appear to be more nimble, raising the question of what is the best size for a country - and are the American independence movements right to argue that the US should be broken up? OK if you're lucky enough to live in California or New York, but not if you are in Kansas, Oklahoma or the Dakotas.
CAUGHT ON THE BREEZE
A nice girl is one who makes breakfast
Every generation thinks it invented sex
Roof wouldn't leak if they had listened to me
Banks and drug companies suck
I could do a Veronica Lake, but then I couldn't see anything
Lillie Langtry is the sort of woman I admire - and it didn't do her any harm that she liked sex
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
When it comes to names, we're loyal to royal
Ian, Jim, Will, Bill, Steve G, Barbara, Bobb, Glenn, Edgar, Mary, Bob Birchard, Jeanette, Joan, Ray
Why is it that there are so many names with royal roots? America has long have a love affair with aristocractic names like Earl, Duke, Prince and so on, but it is easy to forget that such common first names as Rex, Regina and even Ian have royal origins. Even if a first name doesn't actually invoke a title, those that have recently been used by a royal (or, in the US, a showbiz star) suddenly become popular. The absent Lynne's second name is Elizabeth, and she was born not long after QE2 ascended the throne. Robert is of course very popular both at Conrads and throughout the land, and that has a long and distinguished history. Girls get a much worse deal, because their parents often want to give them something distinctive - like Sharleen, Jayleen, Chardonnay, Sparkles. This is also a class issue: there is a custom among wealthier families to name the son after the father, hence the US inclination towards calling people Hiram Jehosophat the Fourth. I don't escape this because I was named after my father, who was peeved I didn't inflict Williamness on either of my sons.
The crashing stock market is a growing cause of concern for the dwindling savings of our merry band. I could bore for Britain on this one, and dedicated masochists can see my views last Sunday and this on www.timesonline.co.uk by putting William Kay in the search box. Suffice to say it's bad and it's going to get worse, so pay off your debts and save in the safest places you can find.
Will recalled how offended he was to find Mount Rushmore, with its carvings of white US Presidents, on Indian land, sparking a debate about cultural colonialism. Ian argued vehemently that we were doing other races a favor by bringing them art, music, literature and TV shows that they couldn't have invented for themselves, as their own culture was so limited. But if all you have are cave paintings and tom-toms, there's a limit to what you can produce. The electric guitar has much to answer for, good and bad. Anyway, native Americans have casinos.
John McCain's line in his convention speech about Palin working 'by hand and nose' led us naturally to nose jobs: Cher (unnecessary) v Streisand (absolutely essential) and the need for stars to keep updating or even reinventing themselves through cosmetic surgery. But then, with the advances in CGI, surely all future stars will have to do is to preserve their 30-year-old selves on a hard disk and never age?
Ian rounded off a fascinating evening by admitting that he is in that sad class of male that finds Sarah Palin sexy because of her schoolmarm hairdo and glasses, leading to lascivious throughts of the hair being let down and the glasses being tossed off...and whatever else comes to hand.
CAUGHT ON THE BREEZE
Dodgers are top of NL West and I hope some of that luck rubs off on me.
A new illness afflicting the Republican party: Sarapalin
Even the best sfx can't make John Wayne act
You've heard of walk on, well you're just a talk on
Pantages theaters were a magic place
I'm just a bit-part player, Will's the star
Why is it that there are so many names with royal roots? America has long have a love affair with aristocractic names like Earl, Duke, Prince and so on, but it is easy to forget that such common first names as Rex, Regina and even Ian have royal origins. Even if a first name doesn't actually invoke a title, those that have recently been used by a royal (or, in the US, a showbiz star) suddenly become popular. The absent Lynne's second name is Elizabeth, and she was born not long after QE2 ascended the throne. Robert is of course very popular both at Conrads and throughout the land, and that has a long and distinguished history. Girls get a much worse deal, because their parents often want to give them something distinctive - like Sharleen, Jayleen, Chardonnay, Sparkles. This is also a class issue: there is a custom among wealthier families to name the son after the father, hence the US inclination towards calling people Hiram Jehosophat the Fourth. I don't escape this because I was named after my father, who was peeved I didn't inflict Williamness on either of my sons.
The crashing stock market is a growing cause of concern for the dwindling savings of our merry band. I could bore for Britain on this one, and dedicated masochists can see my views last Sunday and this on www.timesonline.co.uk by putting William Kay in the search box. Suffice to say it's bad and it's going to get worse, so pay off your debts and save in the safest places you can find.
Will recalled how offended he was to find Mount Rushmore, with its carvings of white US Presidents, on Indian land, sparking a debate about cultural colonialism. Ian argued vehemently that we were doing other races a favor by bringing them art, music, literature and TV shows that they couldn't have invented for themselves, as their own culture was so limited. But if all you have are cave paintings and tom-toms, there's a limit to what you can produce. The electric guitar has much to answer for, good and bad. Anyway, native Americans have casinos.
John McCain's line in his convention speech about Palin working 'by hand and nose' led us naturally to nose jobs: Cher (unnecessary) v Streisand (absolutely essential) and the need for stars to keep updating or even reinventing themselves through cosmetic surgery. But then, with the advances in CGI, surely all future stars will have to do is to preserve their 30-year-old selves on a hard disk and never age?
Ian rounded off a fascinating evening by admitting that he is in that sad class of male that finds Sarah Palin sexy because of her schoolmarm hairdo and glasses, leading to lascivious throughts of the hair being let down and the glasses being tossed off...and whatever else comes to hand.
CAUGHT ON THE BREEZE
Dodgers are top of NL West and I hope some of that luck rubs off on me.
A new illness afflicting the Republican party: Sarapalin
Even the best sfx can't make John Wayne act
You've heard of walk on, well you're just a talk on
Pantages theaters were a magic place
I'm just a bit-part player, Will's the star
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Post-Cinecon hangover
Jim, Ian, Regina, Bobb, Barbara, Bill, Lynne, Will, Bob, Ben, Steve L.
Back to Conrads after the double hiatus of Ernest Borgnine and Cinecon, as soon as Bob turned up it was inevitable that Cinecon and how it went was going to be a major topic.
Favorite films this year included Ninth Guest, Speedy, I Can't Give You Anything But Love Baby, Texan, Home Maker, and The Case Against Brooklyn. A pretty wide range, but there were as many as 40 films shown each day over the five days - and Will wants another two days! While Bob nearly keeled over at that idea, I think we should print Cinecon + 2 t-shirts and launch a campaign. After all, if the Edinburgh Festival can be extended over the whole month of August, why not Cinecon (OK Bob, just kidding - for now!)
Clearly there is a mood to extend Cinecon, though, but the question is how? More workshops, more than one screen, introductions to more films and a wrap party were among the hotly contested suggestions. As the number of living survivors of the silent era is beginning to dwindle rapidly, it might not be too soon to get hold of them - live or on camera - while we can.
Cinecon led to an extended discussion of those perennial twin themes, Hollywood Boulevard changing and the Walk of Fame falling into disrepair - and what to do about them. Bob reckoned it costs as much as $25,000 to have someone added to the Walk, usually screwed out of a studio or TV station, but the Chamber of Commerce does little in return to maintain the fabric of the entries. The Kodak Center has done a lot to revive the Boulevard, but it is piecemeal and the halo effect fades as you go east. Maybe the Pantages development will get the upgrade moving from the other direction, but you've got all those disused movie theaters in between and ownership of the properties is divided between too many hands to get a co-ordinated effort without huge organization. Maybe the hand of commerce will eventually do the trick.
Somehow I have to segue from Hollywood to Jim's birthday, so I'll stop off on the brief but energetic discussion of 'segue' which Ian insists on spelling Segway - a version which has been claimed as the brand name for those stand-up scooters that are so popular in DC and catching on in LA. This strange lapse by Ian was particularly ironic in view of the fact that he featured in the LA Times crossword on Sunday - 'British invasion rocker Whitcomb'. As he admitted, this places him well above the vast majority of the population in terms of fame, but below the A-list of McCartner, Jagger or Lennon. Does that make Ian a B-lister? Surely not.
From mis-spelling to mispronunciation: Bobb, Barbara and Will ran through an exposition of variably pronounced place names, from Ohio, and Missouri to Arkansas and even Los Angeles, ending on the ever-popular Sepulveda.
In the midst of all this, Jim 'When I'm 64' Dawson sat quietly basking in his new-found old age, surrounded by Regina's deliciously squishy dark chocolate cupcakes - which I found went down remarkably well with vanilla ice cream and a cup of coffee. Now you can't get that at the Parkway Grill!
CAUGHT ON THE BREEZE
You are just as old as you feel - but what if you feel old?
Let's have a prenup that we're never getting divorced
I don't spend a nickel on anything that doesn't appear on screen
Trouble is, everything today is about people with super powers
There are a lot of shades of black
Back to Conrads after the double hiatus of Ernest Borgnine and Cinecon, as soon as Bob turned up it was inevitable that Cinecon and how it went was going to be a major topic.
Favorite films this year included Ninth Guest, Speedy, I Can't Give You Anything But Love Baby, Texan, Home Maker, and The Case Against Brooklyn. A pretty wide range, but there were as many as 40 films shown each day over the five days - and Will wants another two days! While Bob nearly keeled over at that idea, I think we should print Cinecon + 2 t-shirts and launch a campaign. After all, if the Edinburgh Festival can be extended over the whole month of August, why not Cinecon (OK Bob, just kidding - for now!)
Clearly there is a mood to extend Cinecon, though, but the question is how? More workshops, more than one screen, introductions to more films and a wrap party were among the hotly contested suggestions. As the number of living survivors of the silent era is beginning to dwindle rapidly, it might not be too soon to get hold of them - live or on camera - while we can.
Cinecon led to an extended discussion of those perennial twin themes, Hollywood Boulevard changing and the Walk of Fame falling into disrepair - and what to do about them. Bob reckoned it costs as much as $25,000 to have someone added to the Walk, usually screwed out of a studio or TV station, but the Chamber of Commerce does little in return to maintain the fabric of the entries. The Kodak Center has done a lot to revive the Boulevard, but it is piecemeal and the halo effect fades as you go east. Maybe the Pantages development will get the upgrade moving from the other direction, but you've got all those disused movie theaters in between and ownership of the properties is divided between too many hands to get a co-ordinated effort without huge organization. Maybe the hand of commerce will eventually do the trick.
Somehow I have to segue from Hollywood to Jim's birthday, so I'll stop off on the brief but energetic discussion of 'segue' which Ian insists on spelling Segway - a version which has been claimed as the brand name for those stand-up scooters that are so popular in DC and catching on in LA. This strange lapse by Ian was particularly ironic in view of the fact that he featured in the LA Times crossword on Sunday - 'British invasion rocker Whitcomb'. As he admitted, this places him well above the vast majority of the population in terms of fame, but below the A-list of McCartner, Jagger or Lennon. Does that make Ian a B-lister? Surely not.
From mis-spelling to mispronunciation: Bobb, Barbara and Will ran through an exposition of variably pronounced place names, from Ohio, and Missouri to Arkansas and even Los Angeles, ending on the ever-popular Sepulveda.
In the midst of all this, Jim 'When I'm 64' Dawson sat quietly basking in his new-found old age, surrounded by Regina's deliciously squishy dark chocolate cupcakes - which I found went down remarkably well with vanilla ice cream and a cup of coffee. Now you can't get that at the Parkway Grill!
CAUGHT ON THE BREEZE
You are just as old as you feel - but what if you feel old?
Let's have a prenup that we're never getting divorced
I don't spend a nickel on anything that doesn't appear on screen
Trouble is, everything today is about people with super powers
There are a lot of shades of black
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